Olympic gold medallists Australia and Rugby World Cup 2019 and Olympic Games 2020 hosts, Japan, are the latest countries to host rounds of the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series, which gets underway in early December.

Major Events International (MEI) – which has been working with Stadia & Arena Asia Pacific 2016 on a number of conference panel sessions – will also be running a Trade Mission to Japan during the event.

The Official Press Launch for our Stadia & Arena Asia Pacific 2016 conference and exhibition was held in Tokyo, Japan, earlier this week, with speakers from the Japan Sports Agency, Congress Corporation – an Event Partner – and UKT&I/BCCJ, and was met with great interest from the many members of the press in attendance.

The ‘best ever’ Stadia & Arena Asia Pacific Preliminary Conference Program has been unveiled this week, with a stunning array of industry-elite speakers to share their invaluable insights during the 2.5 day event.

Export to Japan, in association with UKT&I/UKTI Tokyo, have launched a Global Sports Events report detailingJapan’s progress on the road to Tokyo 2020 and provides details on the latest updates on business opportunities for British companies in this sector.

This is the second Global Sports Event Webinar that UKT&I Tokyo and the British Chamber of Commerce in Japan (BCCJ) have hosted to date. NB: Only UKT&I and BCCJ members are allowed access to this webinar and the downloadable version of the report.

Since Export to Japan’s first webinar, Japan’s biggest achievements have included the completion of the venue planning and agreement of events with the IOC and the IPC.

The industry expert speakers introduce the Global Sports Event report on Tokyo 2020 and RWC 2019, which follows on from the previous report released last year.

They also discuss the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Olympics & Paralympics’ Action Plan, which will be soon available on Export to Japan.

About the Speaker

Tim Johnson, Head of Global Sporting Events and Strategic Trade at UKTI Japan hosts the guest speaker, Graham Davis, of the British Chamber of Commerce in Japan, who provides his expertise and discusses business opportunities for British companies as Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 draw ever closer.

Benefits of Watching

UK companies are eligible to receive an executive summary of the Global Sports Event report and TMG Action Plan via the webinar, and receive the latest updates on planning and progress.

They will also be able to learn about opportunities that might exist for UK companies in the supply chain, how the new National Sponsors could be involved in Tokyo 2020 and the ways in which this may be of interest to UK companies.

About the Report

Three major global sporting events are set to take place in Japan over the coming years. This report sets the scene for British companies who may be interested in becoming involved in the delivery of these events.

It also gives a detailed explanation of the major global sporting events that will be hosted in Japan over the next few years.

Topics covered include:

Introduction

Three Events

2020 Olympics background

Timetable to the Olympics

Insight into Business Opportunities for UK companies

Tokyo 2020 – the view from LOCOG

Rugby World Cup 2019 background

Rugby World Cup 2019 – the organiser’s view

About the BCCJ, their partners and contacts

Updates to this report will delve more deeply into top level areas of opportunities for British businesses.

About the BCCJ

The British Chamber of Commerce in Japan’s mission is to strengthen business ties between the UK and Japan, promote and support the business interests of all their members, and actively encourage new British business into the Japanese market, as well as Japanese investment into the UK.

The BCCJ works closely with the UKT&I Tokyo in order to achieve this goal.

About Stadia & Arena Asia Pacific 2016

If Asia Pacific is a region you are interested in or is a region you are already working in and would like to secure more leads/clients/distributors etc., then you need to attend our annual Stadia & Arena Asia Pacific 2016 conference & exhibition – as mentioned during the above Global Sports Events Report’s webinar – which is being held at Japan’s Yokohama Arena from September 26-28.

Now in its 18th year, the event brings together the industry leaders from all aspects of sporting events and sports venues, from design & build, to management, operations and technology.

Some 50+ top industry professionals, from architects, engineers, sports venue owners/operators, LOC’s, government/council representatives and producers/suppliers, will share their insights over the 3-day event, during which you can network, learn, knowledge-share and do business.

Japan is the perfect choice for our 2016 event, with the Rugby World Cup 2019 taking place across 12 sites, 36 venues being currently proposed for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 and 19 confirmed for the Paralympics. This is all in addition to the country’s successful three-tier Soccer League, a well-established Baseball League, and a soon-to-be expanded Basketball League (with 15 arena projects already planned and many more proposed), making Stadia & Arena Asia Pacific 2016 too good of an opportunity to miss!

Our city is home to YOKOHAMA ARENA, our venue for this event, has a capacity of approximately 17,000 and boasts a moveable seating system, enabling its use for a wide range of sports competitions and events. Numerous hosts have praised this venue for its well-equipped facilities, and it is utilized for events an impressive 300 days out of the year.

Furthermore, Yokohama has a high-speed Shinkansen (bullet train) station, providing excellent transport connections to other cities within Japan, and the city’s beautiful harbor-front district scenery, world cuisine and other attractions offer plenty to do after event sessions.

Our second Stadia & Arena Asia Pacific conference and exhibition took place last week at the Singapore National Stadium. The 17th for Stadia & Arena, the event was hailed a “really great conference” providing “invaluable contacts” for those involved.

“I was impressed with the operation … and enjoyed the experience immensely. Best of luck with 2016.”Jason HillSydney Cricket Ground

“A great experience … to meet a lot of people in this industry.”Masa HayafujiJ-League

Literally billions of dollars’ worth of global sports venue projects were represented at the event, including groups currently involved in new major sports projects around the region. Those included Sports City Malaysia (hosts of the 2017 SEA Games), the Cambodia National Stadium, Haryana Cricket Stadium, Kai Tak Stadium Hong Kong in addition to global venue operators and facility managers. Developers behind major new sports projects in Australia, China and New Zealand were also in attendance.

The event began with exclusive ‘behind-the-scene’ tours of the Singapore Sports Hub, followed by our 50+ industry elite speaker sessions covering all aspects of sports venue design, operations, revenue generation and fan engagement.

The event finale gave all visitors the chance to hear from Wing Tan, Senior Facilitator at the Disney Institute on ‘overmanaging’ and ‘architected’ or attend a special local site tour to learn about artificial turf maintenance from SMG Sportplatzmaschinenbau.

On the exhibition floor, attendees had the opportunity to network and meet with experts across the entire spectrum of products and services, many of whom where exhibiting in Asia for the first time.

It has been confirmed that the 72,000-capacity Yokohama Stadium, which hosted the final of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, will now stage the final of the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

World Rugby had been forced to revise its plans for the first Rugby World Cup in Asia after the design of the new Japan National Stadium, which was to be the showpiece of the 2019 tournament as well as the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, was scrapped in July.

The Japanese Government has subsequently advised that the new redesigned stadium will be built in time for the Olympics, but not for the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

A statement from World Rugby advised:

World Rugby’s executive committee is satisfied that the revised vision proposed by the Japan Rugby 2019 organising committee, with the full support of the Japan Government, meets the required criteria.

Japan caught World Rugby off guard in July when they announced that the proposed new 80,000-seat National Stadium – the centrepiece of the 2020 Olympic Games – wouldn’t be completed in time to host matches during the first Rugby World Cup in Asia.

The venue, whose original design was scrapped by the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, because of escalating costs, was also due to host the tournament’s opening ceremony and match.

World Rugby said that the 50,000-seat Tokyo Stadium, home to the local football club FC Tokyo, would now take the opening honour, while announcing a new roadmap with local organisers after a complete review of the plan.

Introducing the new venues, World Rugby Chairman, Bernard Lapasset stated:

These are exciting, unprecedented times for Japan Rugby and this revised roadmap reinforces and reflects the shared vision and mission to deliver a Rugby World Cup that will be great for Japan, great for Asia and great for Rugby.

We would like to thank our partners in Japan for their committed response to the stadium issue and all of the work they have undertaken, and in particular the Prime Minister of Japan and his government, Japan Sports Council and the Governor of Tokyo and Mayor of Yokohama for their full support.

The tone of satisfaction was in stark contrast to the body’s feelings in July, when it requested urgent talks after Prime Minister Abe, tired of the rising costs and public outcry against the National Stadium plans, ordered a scaled back version.

Image: Yokohama Stadium was the host of the 2002 Football World Cup final.

Our hugely successful Stadia & Arena Asia Pacific event will be held in Japan in 2016. The host venue for which and the dates will be announced shortly, so make sure to keep checking back on:www.psam.uk.comandwww.saevents.uk.com

PanStadia & Arena Management has quickly become the leading publication for the business of stadia, arenas, sport & live entertainment events and venues on a global scale, with some 24,000+ named high-level industry professionals receiving the magazine on a quarterly basis.

Featuring high-quality, in-depth editorials, all carefully researched and professionally written, along with client case studies and a comprehensive Facility Watch detailing the latest projects, all presented in a bold, modern and intuitive design, PanStadia & Arena Management is the professionals’ choice.